In this interview with MOCA, four siblings from the Lui Family sit down to discuss their childhood in early 20th century Chinatown. Sisters, Effie and Fannie, begin with a description of their family members and their life in a tenement apartment. They also explain the root of their Christian faith and the role of ministers as community social workers. The sisters then examine the tensions between the Chinese and Italians in the neighborhood and the development of their Chinese American identity. Brothers, Harold and Ronald, then describe their parents’ immigration experience and their siblings’ educations. They also further discuss the importance of the Church in their lives and the challenge of paper son identities. The four siblings ultimately join to discuss the effect on World War II on their family and the conflicts between their Chinese identity and strong Christian faith. They close the interview with a discussion of the importance of family and faith in leaving behind value and a legacy.

Edward Chin used to be the son of Sun Sing Theatre owner, an engineer, and a lawyer. Now, he enjoys his retirement and travels around the world to play golf with his friends. In this interview, Chin discusses his father’s movie business, family history about the paper son, his schooling experience, careers in law firms, ethnic identity, and thoughts about racism.

Various members of the Kung family recount their journey to the US and how they adapted to American culture. They further explore the changes in the Chinese community from when they first arrived to current day.

Tina Yao & William Yao talk about their immigration life experience, their family tradition and the cultural legacy they want to leave to their offspring. William Yao talks about his childhood in Shanghai, his father who worked in the silk business died of a stroke when he was young. Although three of her five children lived with her brother it was still hard for William mother to raise her children, financially. After WWII William went to the Shanghai provincial State High School, later he left Shanghai to look for a job. His mother’s brother asked him if wanted to come to New York through his newspaper company. His first job had bad pay and that’s when he applied to Pan Am, where he stayed. Later on when his children were growing up they went and lived in Flushing, which was convenient, had mahjong and Chinese food places. His wife Tina Yao lately joins his oral history.

Victor Chen is a writer. In this interview, he discusses how his family came to America and settled in New York in 1949; his education on the Upper West Side, in boarding school, and at university; and his work at The New Yorker in the 1970s. He also mentions his books, which tell how he has been led to believe in a number of fictions and myths in history. (His doctor says that the shakiness of his body in this interview may be a side effect of his medication.)

In this interview, Tina and John Yuan share the journey of their families from China to Taiwan, where they were born, to the US, where they met and built their own family. They mention their parents’ experiences in China, their early childhood in Taiwan, culture shocks when migrating to the US during the 1970s, adolescent school years, the encounters of Chinese communities, and fostering their son as a Chinese American.

In this interview, Wong family representatives, David, Nancy, and their mother discuss their early lives in Colorado, the story of their journey to California and LA, and their lives in San Francisco. They remark on their education and their experience working and helping at the family grocery store. They discuss family history, specifically about paper sons. This interview was conducted in English with few conversations in Toishanese.

Washington SyCip recounts his experience enlisting in the US military during World War II. He goes on to talk about incarceration of his father during the Japanese occupation and how he helped his father rebuild after the war. He goes on to talk about how he began to establish his own accounting firm and finally discusses his home life in the US and Manilla. His son George also chimes in to discuss incidents of discrimination growing up and in the business world.

Eva Lam (daughter of Sau Wing and Jean) talks about her parents life in Shanghai before immigrating to the US. She discusses her experience growing up during the Vietnam War and experiencing racism. Music is a major theme throughout this interview, since her father was a violinist as well as a collector. She recounts the love of music that she shares with her family and talks about her father’s violin collection.

Lawyer Glenn Lau-Kee, Attorney at Kee & Lau-Kee, and MOCA’s Sixth Annual Celebration of Community Heroes honoree, talks about his life growing up in New York. He discusses the history of Kee and Lau-Kee, which was founded by his father in 1956 and is one of Chinatown’s oldest law firms. He reminisces about being sent to boarding school as a child and going to Yale to study law. He goes on to talk about the changing Chinese American community in New York; specifically discussing the role of Manhattan’s Chinatown. He ends by discussing his hope of more Asian Americans working as public officials.